Please help me settle an argument

[Sonia]

My edumacated husband is insisting that you cannot keep a roo with hens. He insists that the roo will kill all the hens. He refuses to believe anything I say (such as if you can't keep a roo with hens where exactly do chicks come from?). Please help me out here?

Also roughly how many laying hens would one want to have to keep a family of 9 in eggs (without having to buy any). I do a lot of baking including bread daily. To make eggs for breakfast we go through 2 dozen in one meal. I know this sounds like a lot but I have 4 growing boys and 3 girls.

 

[CUDA]

lol, well you are right, it is perfectly normal to keep a rooster with hens. Good laying hens will lay an egg a day during the spring through fall, and will slow down some in the winter, and through the moult. Just figure out how many eggs a day you need, and buy that many hens. Good luck!

 

[LoneCowboy]

I have 13 hens and I get approximately a doz a day so say, 6.5 dozen a week. That should help you do some math.

Duh, of course a roo can be housed with the hens. They take good care of their hens usually and protect them quite well. However, they some times get a little rough with mating and you have to seperate them for a little while so the hens feather grow back.

 

[Sonia]

So the 5 chickens he wants wouldn't be enough. We would need approx. a dozen a day. So 12-13 would be a good number?

 

[LoneCowboy]

Actually, figure out how many you need a day and buy about 2 more hens than that. Some take a day off. Also depends on the breeds.

 

[Sonia]

...........

 

[CUDA]

That's true, Lone, better off with a couple extra. BTW Sonia, there are plenty of heavy breeds that will lay well for you, and are much prettier than plain old white leghorns in my opinion. Just letting you know in case you didn't realize. Good luck!

 

[ChickNLittle]

Sonia, you of course are correct. My roo lives with my hens in their coop. They all do fine! There is no problem with that. I breed leghorns and I breed leghorns/barred rock mixes. I have 7 hens and a roo in one chicken house. I get about a dozen of eggs a day. All the kids are grown and gone, so its just my husband and I. So I sell the eggs for hatching and I sell them for eating. People are always honking at my gate. So for eggs, you made a great choice in Leghorns. Good luck and tell hubby to leave the chickens to you. Tehe!

 

[wynedot55]

if you use 2dz eggs day give or take.you need atlest 25 hens to produce what you need.

 

[chcknrs]

Your hubby needs to read BYC and get a REAL education.